Pomerleau Family Blog: Camping Labor Day weekend at Champoeg State Park

Brooke and I were able to book a camping trip over Labor Day weekend when the sites opened back up in early June. The kids were starting the year with distance learning and were not going back until a week after Labor Day (on September 14th) so it was nice that we had the week after Labor Day to recuperate before school started. We booked the camping trip for Saturday and Sunday nights as we all had to work Friday. We really like Champoeg last time as it is really close (only 30 minutes away near Newberg) and there is really fun bike paths. We also figured since the camp sites are pretty spread out that we could be safely further away from people with COVID going on. Throughout the summer months the COVID case count were relatively low (we found out later in the year) but it was nice being outside and safe. The kids were excited to camp with their besties too. We got to the site in the late afternoon and set up camp and made dinner. The kids had fun biking around and the dogs loved going on constant walks. We sat up and talked around the fire and Addie slept in our tent with Olivia and Logan and Brandon slept in their own tent together that they built again. Everyone slept pretty well although the kids were up early of course!

The next day the kids woke up and we made breakfast. It was going to be a hot day near 100 so we decided to have the kids go bike riding in the morning before it got too hot. They were going to ride along the river and then meet up with us at the end of the trail. There was some confusion about where they were meeting with us but we finally found them. The kids had fun going on their own bike ride. We walked the dogs along the river and it was still very pleasant. After the bike ride we decided to try to go swimming nearby in a river to cool off and to do a hike and then we made reservations at a nearby winery for some wine tasting. We found a fun little swim area at Ewing Young Park. It was beautiful there and the dogs loved running around off leash and swimming. We didn't see anyone out there at all. We got a little lost trying to get back and almost missed our wine reservation but made it.

On their bike adventure

Such a fun bike trip

The dogs loved swimming

Hiking along the river

Water dogs!

Fun in our swimming hole

The kids had a blast exploring

Such a beautiful day

Brooke and I found a winery that was only about 10 minutes from the campground called Lady Hill Winery. We made reservations in the late afternoon and brought snacks for the kids. We headed right over there from swimming and they allowed dogs which was super nice. The adults had fun tasting and we bought two bottles of wine to enjoy later. It got quite hot in the late afternoon and we got back to the campground. Taylor ended up losing their van keys and they could not find them anywhere and spent most of the night looking for them. We made dinner and the kids biked some more and I went into the car and blasted the AC to cool off. It sort of cooled down to the 70s at night so it was bearable to sleep at least. We were tracking the weather and there was an extreme fire warning going on due to the lack of humidity, high temperatures, and they were focusing super high winds. I was pretty worried about potential wild fires, little did I know that they would be so bad in the upcoming days. The camping trip was a perfect way to end our COVID summer which was filled with time outdoors.